East Mountain Trails & Bikeways Master Plan - Bernalillo County

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crossing the roadway. Recent research findings (“Safety Analysis of Marked Versus Unmarked Crosswalks in 30 Cities,” ITE Journal, January 2004) have resulted in recommendations for and against installing marked crosswalks and other pedestrian improvements at uncontrolled locations based on the roadway factors listed above. For instance, for a trail crossing at a two-lane road with a daily traffic volume less than 9,000 vehicles per day and a speed limit over 40 mph (as an example, the current condition on NM 337), an increase in pedestrian crash risk would be expected by installing a marked crosswalk without other pedestrian facility enhancements. The recommendations of the ITE Safety Analysis should be used as a guideline in selecting the appropriate treatment when designing trail crossings of roadways in the East Mountain Trails and Bikeways Plan area. 4. Multi-use Soft Surface Trails in Separate Rights of Way or Easements • Paved Multi-use Trails may also be developed in separate rights of way or easements, reducing potential conflicts with motor vehicles to crossing locations. • Soft Surface Trails in separate rights-of-way on private property easements may occur in utility corridors, as local connections to subdivisions, including fire access roads and/or utility access roads doubling as trail access, or connections to and between destinations, including public lands with trail systems managed by various agencies. Most will be multi-use, serving a variety of users. Some may be signed to restrict user types. Motorized Off Highway Vehicles are restricted to designated roads, trails and areas. The Trails and Bikeways Master Plan discusses needs of individual users in Chapter IV and the Technical Appendix. The USDA Forest Service Trail Construction and Maintenance Notebook provides guidance for these types of trails. Figure 19 is a crosssection of a soft surface multi-use trail. Figure 19. Soft Surface Multi-Use Trail 5. Trail Access Facilities Access to the trail, bikeway and open space system will require dedicated points for entering the system. In places this will entail creating areas for potential users to park their vehicles and prepare for their trail activity. Other locales are not intended to have parking. Three types of trail access facilities are identified in the Master Plan: A) staging areas; B) trailheads; and C) neighborhood access points • Staging areas Staging Areas are trail facilities that have large parking areas in order to provide sufficient space for five or more vehicles, including trailers that carry horses or off-road vehicles. A staging area could provide direct access for users to a major open space area, or could also be a staging area for cyclists using major roads or for other users making use of rural road and open space system. Typically, the surface of the facility is gravel or crusher fines, but in certain instances may be paved asphalt or stabilized crusher fines in order to provide ADA access. Staging Page 50 EAST MOUNTAIN TRAILS AND BIKEWAYS MASTER PLAN
Areas will typically include signage, designated entry points and an information kiosk with a map and interpretive materials. The Forest Service staging area at Mars Court is an example of a functional staging area. Several staging areas currently exist on National Forest land, but several more are proposed at various locations in the Master Plan area. • Trailheads Trailheads are meant to accommodate two to eight cars, but not trailers. They are smaller than staging areas. These facilities provide access to open space facilities or segments of the trail system. They may also be used to provide access in residential or other areas where a staging area would be inappropriate or problematic, or where the typical users are likely only to be hikers and dog walkers. Trailheads may be as simple as a gravel pulloff or could be a paved and striped series of parking places, in order to provide ADA access to a neighboring facility. Trailheads will typically include signage, designated entry points and an information box that provides maps to the facility/segment of the system. A typical Trailhead facility is similar to that currently found at Sunflower Park and Juan Tomas Open Space. Several Trailheads exist on National Forest and City and County Open Space lands, and several more are proposed by the Master Plan. • Neighborhood Access Points Neighborhood Access Points are the most limited of access facilities. Typically, the Master Plan has proposed these facilities at the interface between existing or future residential areas and open space areas. Because of the residential uses, parking facilities for non-residents would be inappropriate. The Neighborhood Access Point will permit existing and future residential neighbors, as well as users of the rural road and trail system to access the open space. Neighborhood Access Points will have minimal signage and a designated entry point, but otherwise no supporting facilities. A typical Neighborhood Access Point proposed in this plan is found at the end of McGuinness Road into the Juan Tomas Open Space. 6. Potential Recreation Areas A series of Potential Recreation Areas are identified. These areas would typically have more intensive recreational use than other open space areas. The goal for these areas would be to provide motorized and other intensive users with courses that could meet the needs of their particular use. These facilities would be jointly managed by the County and a formal foundation or association representing particular user group(s), pursuant to terms established at the time of acquisition or lease. Significant coordination and planning with property owners, user groups, and adjacent residents will be required to make these potential recreation areas a reality. 7. ADA Accessible Facilities Currently, there are three major ADA accessible interpretive trail facilities on National Forest land at the Doc Long and Cienega Picnic Areas, and the Sandia Ranger District Station on South 14. ADA accessible facilities also exist along north 14 and between the Vista Grande Community Center and neighboring school facilities. There are several ADA accessible facilities identified in the Master Plan, including the paved trail along Frost Road and US 333, as well as the sidewalks and off road paved trails proposed near existing and proposed schools in Tijeras and near the County Line by the Route 66 Elementary School. Finally, there are fully accessible interpretive facilities proposed adjacent to the Tijeras Arroyo on the APS lands from the school road entrance to the bridge to Los Vecinos Community Center. EAST MOUNTAIN TRAILS AND BIKEWAYS MASTER PLAN Page 51
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Cover Photo Credits Top Row Middle
Page 7 and 8:
Executive Summary Bernalillo County
Page 9 and 10: Table of Contents Chapter I. Introd
Page 11 and 12: Chapter I. Introduction Bernalillo
Page 13 and 14: Sections 15 and 16 south of I-40. T
Page 15 and 16: Chapter II. Policy Context & Public
Page 17 and 18: Forest Plan have been incorporated
Page 19 and 20: to persons on the stakeholder and n
Page 21 and 22: soft-surface off-road trails to com
Page 23 and 24: 8. Work with private landowners and
Page 25 and 26: Chapter III. Existing Conditions &
Page 27 and 28: 3. Soils The soils in the area fall
Page 29 and 30: Figure 5. Vegetation Classification
Page 31 and 32: appropriate level of location of tr
Page 33 and 34: Figure 6. Social Landscape: Pueblos
Page 35 and 36: Table 1. Rights-of-Way on East Moun
Page 37 and 38: Figure 8. Population Projections EA
Page 39 and 40: Figure 10. Roads and Rights-of-Way
Page 41 and 42: Official National Forest maps for t
Page 43 and 44: area and the Estancia Vista area on
Page 45 and 46: NM 14 “Horse Route” on West Sid
Page 47 and 48: Table 2. User Characteristics and P
Page 49 and 50: Table 3. User Characteristic and Pr
Page 51 and 52: Chapter IV. Master Plan The final M
Page 53 and 54: 4. Helping secure, and in some case
Page 55 and 56: trail facilities. Where those facil
Page 57 and 58: ecome critical. Speeds tend to incr
Page 59: • Paved Multi-use Trails This typ
Page 63 and 64: Figure 20. The Master Plan EAST MOU
Page 65 and 66: shoulders are proposed for the enti
Page 67 and 68: 12. NM 217 (South Valley Mountain R
Page 69 and 70: Chapter V. Phasing & Implementation
Page 71 and 72: private land owners or the NM State
Page 73 and 74: ecreational trails and trail relate
Page 75 and 76: The East Mountain Coalition of Neig
Page 77 and 78: Appendices Appendix A. Key Terms Ap
Page 79 and 80: narrower (8’ minimum) trails with
Page 81 and 82: Appendix C. Generalized Projects an
Page 83 and 84: Priority Projects Improvement Cost
Page 85 and 86: Priority Projects Improvement Cost
Page 87: Appendix D. References Architectura
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East Mountain Trails & Bikeways Master Plan - Bernalillo County

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